Yes MJ . Alcohol has a funny effect on Some people . Some , very obvious.

If it was the alcohol . THEN . Everybody would be alcoholic . Then , it Must be IN the person.

I got told ,on Day 1 of my sobriety . It is not Where , what or how much . It is What it does to Us.

Xmas & NY came up quickly for my 1st sober chrissy . Some in AA said to try Non alcoholic wine.

Back to day 1 . I had a revelation . I was 17 . In the Aussie Navy . We had a 15 course Chinese meal

in Hong Kong . I fell ill & went back to my ship . Next morning , th Dr told me "watch what you eat".

Got home 6 mths later . Took my girl out to dinner . I had curried prawns & fried rice , an hour later.

I started to feel off again . Next morning was able to see th Dr , he rang a specialist . I was able to get in,

that day , He told me to get some prawns & take em with me . Bottom line . I Am allergic to prawns . BUT.

Every now & then I would try one or two , to see if I had the Same reaction . Stayed the Same.

The Revelation for me . Was Not to try to eat prawns again . As they made me ill . And . NOT to try Booze

again . Because , it put me into a Psych Hospital again . So , if I did not drink , I would not end up in a

Psych hospital . I have not drank since AND I have Not been back to a Psych hospital . MJ . That was over

30yrs ago.

MJ-

 

I'm with you.  Totally get where you're coming from  I don't NEED it, I just like it.  Mainly cuz I'm bored and/or alone, which I know doesn't make it right.  Wish there was a "patch" to deter from drinking like there is for not smoking :)

It comes down to two things, neither of which are consequences of drinking. Control and choice. If you have control of the amount you take - always-, and if you can choose when, where, how much, and if you drink, - everytime, I doubt you have a problem in respect of alcoholism. However if you are drinking excessively by choice, you have a health problem on the way. Alcohol comes in bottles, alcoholism comes in people.

Thank you to everyone who answered my post.

Fyne Spirit wrote:

Alcohol comes in bottles, alcoholism comes in people.

---

 I love that. Rang a bell. Can I use that?

Hey MJ, ... If drinking ever causes any part of your life to be 'unmanageable', you're an alcoholic ... starts with expectations and obligations being unmet ...



Love Ya and God Bless,
Pappy

Here is an experiment suggested in the big book for those having trouble deciding. I tried it the last time I drank. Plan was to have a couple of beers and be home by six. Made it home by six alright, just four days later. That established I have the phenomenon of craving the big book Doctor's Opinion talks about. it is always dangerous for an alcoholic to drink. The consequences are unpredictable. But for me, it put the cork in the bottle for good.


"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

Fyne Spirit wrote:

---

Here is an experiment suggested in the big book for those having trouble deciding. I tried it the last time I drank. Plan was to have a couple of beers and be home by six. Made it home by six alright, just four days later. That established I have the phenomenon of craving the big book Doctor's Opinion talks about. it is always dangerous for an alcoholic to drink. The consequences are unpredictable. But for me, it put the cork in the bottle for good.


"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

---

 this is very fringe in my opinion. Bill and Bob had good intentions but suggesting to go out and possibly die i was doing enough of that on my own. I damn sure didnt need a hand in jumping off that cliff. This is not exactly a dusty tavern tumbleweed kind of world anymore.

After some careful soul searching I think that if I took the time to find this site and create a user name then there is a problem. I'm just struggling with the idea of never drinking again. I like my wine. I like the social aspect of having drinks. I think I just need to be more aware of the consequences of drinking too much. They have not happened to me YET. That is the message I am hearing loud and clear. It has been 2 months since my last incident where I drank too much and was stupid. Before that it was Halloween. I don't think my life is unmanageable. I just don't like it when I lose control by drinking. Or lose control in general. I see a great therapist who is helping me work through all of this. She is the one who suggested I pose my question s to this website I found when searching AA chat rooms. I just read over my post and something jumped out at me. It's not just drinking that can make me feel like I'm not in control. The lack of control gets me drunk. I drink too many and get stupid. I can stop at one. Most times I do. Just once in awhile I go overboard. I stopped drinking for a month and it was no big deal. Said I wanted to lose weight. But really just wanted to test myself. It was no big deal. Lost weight too. BUT it didn't make me want to quit drinking forever.

I forgot to add that I went through a dark spell last year where I was drinking almost every day. And then one day I stopped. I guess I'm scared to visit that place again. Am I doomed to repeat past mistakes? I took the AA quiz and it didn't give me any answers. Four yes answers means I might have a problem. Not quite the answer I was looking for. I'm sorry for rambling multiple posts but this is like journaling to me with the exception that I can get input from some really wise people judging from other threads I have read.

I know people who drink daily, one or two with dinner, and i know some who stop at the bar i used to hand out and have 2 beers and go home. I could not do it, i used to stop and have 2 while waiting for pizza, then 2 became 3 and then 4 and then pizza came home after 8,9,10 sometimes pizza never came home.Like Pappy said this disease is progressive and if you are wondering if you are , chañces are you probably are, but only you can decide. If you can have 2 drinks and stop and stop without aggravation and with peace, then i believe you are not. The funny thing about alcoholism is that you can be an alcoholic , without even touching alcohol, it's genetic . I have always wondered if i never touched alcohol, how my life would have been different. I was off to the races after my first drink, i thought my life was in control, i did not drink during weekdays much at all in the beginning, but i was irritable, and miserable because basically i was going through withdrawals every week. So you don't have to be a daily drinker to be alcoholic, and you don't have to lose jobs or get oui's , these will surely come if you are Alcoholic, there are many functioning Alcoholics who live normal lives on the outside but inside they are living a lie, a friend once told me if you have to control it , it is out of control.

Visionz wrote:

---

Fyne Spirit wrote:

---

Here is an experiment suggested in the big book for those having trouble deciding. I tried it the last time I drank. Plan was to have a couple of beers and be home by six. Made it home by six alright, just four days later. That established I have the phenomenon of craving the big book Doctor's Opinion talks about. it is always dangerous for an alcoholic to drink. The consequences are unpredictable. But for me, it put the cork in the bottle for good.


"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

---

 this is very fringe in my opinion. Bill and Bob had good intentions but suggesting to go out and possibly die i was doing enough of that on my own. I damn sure didnt need a hand in jumping off that cliff. This is not exactly a dusty tavern tumbleweed kind of world anymore.

---

 Actually it is quite mainstream. The very first thing our government funded counselling centres will offer is a controlled drinking plan, under the category of harm minimisation. I tried it, failed on the second day. I tried it a few more times. Didn't know anything of AA at the time. It was a great persuader, I had step one nailed by the time I got to AA. No delusions left.

The alternative, if ther is an uncertainty is either a precarious sobriety, or finding some way to talk ourselves into being alcoholic. A written first step is sometimes used to persuade. And of course there is always the chorus in the background "no one comes to AA by accident" etc. But I think this is a poor substitute for being absolutely convinced from hard experience that I am alcoholic. That absolute hopelessness is where I got the motivation to go to any lenghts. The slightest reservation undermines that.

 

 

 

 

 

I had an eye opener conversation today with my middle schooler. She said her classmates are drinking and drugging on a regular basis. WTF. I don't remember hearing about any of that stuff until high school. Just another reason to limit my own consumption. I don't think I'm an active alcoholic but I have the tendencies based on the stories I have read. I had three beers last night watching basketball and then stopped as I don't want to set the wrong example. I am going to monitor the frequency of my drinking and make the effort to not drink every day. I think I can do it.

Tanin your pizza reference is in response to my post to mommy juice, i was referring to what happened to me when i was in denial of my alcoholism, i would stop to have 2 but it always was more, at the time i never thought there was anything wrong with my behaviour, but i was lying to myself, and i was directing an opinion I have no desire to stop and have 2 while waiting for pizza because i can not stop after 2. mommyjuice , if you can stop and have 2 and go home in peace then maybe you are not an alcoholic. I could never do that , i knew nothing of AA at the time , but i am aware now that if you can not stop after 2 , and do it with peace , that is a litmus test in my opinion for this disease.It is rather strange to me that alcohol,which is a drug can be viewed as something society engages in socially , whereas it's original purpose was as a pain killer , and now we have this epidemic of people addicted to opiates, because they take narcotics when they have no pain, but it is socially acceptable to drink when you have no pain. Both are drugs , both are evil , but some people can drink alcohol without destroying their lives, and others like myself can not.

I have no desire to have pizza again , the ticket is not ticking like it should, never mind alcohol at least o can go to meetings for that.

I love pizza, but the doctor has it off my diet for now, i can live without it , one day at a time , just like AA. I was the biggest pizza conorsoir around , could talk endless about different pizza places. Everyone has their favorites. I once drove 35 miles to get one at my favourite place. Everybody thought i was nuts. Thats why my doctor has me on diet , cholesterol like the GNP, i flunked stress test . I'm eating like a vegetarian now, expensive , but not that bad, I'm walking the dog four to 6 miles. It all goes hand and hand with staying sober. I miss pizza, but i don't miss drinking,lol